Servants of Arendelle
by etwas22
Summary: Everyday was the same for Kai and Gerda. But the gates have been open, and they've found themselves dealing with an emotional Snow Queen, a couple live snowmen, a spunky young princess with new love interest, and an envoy from Westleton. Soon the past begins to catch up with them as the controversial past they helped bury is revealed.
1. Chapter 1

**So I hope you all read and enjoy. Please review what you read. Trust me, you will not hurt my feelings. I write work that I have professionals read, and if I can take what they say (which is often harsh) nothing you guys will say will hurt my feelings.**

**As always, I tend to put up a random fact in this top part that may or may not have to do with the story, but is just interesting to read. So here goes: The game Tetris got its name combining the Greek word Tera (meaning four which each shape in Tetris contains four sections) and the creator's favorite sport, Tennis.**

* * *

"No, no, no, no," said Elsa when Marshmallow made a lunge for Gerda which understandably frightened the maid half to death. She stood between Gerda and the giant snow creature holding up one finger to scold what Gerda presumed was a him. "Calm yourself. You remember your manners when you're here with me, or you go back to North Mountain. Understand?"

Elsa couldn't blame Marshmallow for being so quick to jump against anything that approached her. He was created out of Elsa's will to be left alone so it was natural instinct to attack anything that interrupted her solitude. No longer desiring that amount of isolation, Elsa had to keep a very close eye on him at all times while he was there.

"I don't understand why you have that thing here," gasped Gerda, trying to catch her breath.

"I apologize Gerda. He sort of came here... He needed to have his leg fixed and he knew I would do it for him," said Elsa. Marshmallow retained his angry posture, ice protruding from his back and glowing blue eyes. Elsa patted his hand that was in reach.

"Can't he do it without scarring servants half to death?"

Elsa knew the monster made everyone nervous, but she couldn't turn him away when limped to the castle, half melted by time he arrived, looking for her help. He didn't hurt anyone, despite his temperament and even saved a child from a dog attack. People weren't exactly hostile to him as he was Elsa's creation and they did trust her, though that trust was a bit thin. Elsa led him to the woods surrounding Arendelle away from roads and villages, knowing the people would probably not appreciate him within city limits.

"It won't happen again," said Elsa, though the real question in Gerda's mind was what was queen's obvious affection for the giant magical snowman. He wasn't cute like Olaf who made it his job to cheer everyone else around him. He couldn't talk except a few phrases and most of those consisted of orders to leave. Yet Elsa was uncharacteristically happy when she saw him out by the fjords. She had been worried sick that he was harmed when she was attacked in her mountain stronghold and mentioned wanting to check on him. He was probably waiting for her to come back, struggling a bit with whether he should leave the ice palace unguarded. Six months later, when Elsa didn't return, he went out looking for her.

All Gerda knew was that if one wanted to truly offend the queen, they simply had to suggest she destroy him as one unfortunate baron found out. Elsa was upset enough that she ordered him out immediately, and went out to the fjords to literally and figuratively "cool off" with Marshmallow. And indeed she did. The entire area was covered in snow despite being spring, even decorated with little snow sculptures. Gerda finally had to simply chalk it up to one of those "A love only a mother could have" kind of things and leave it at that. And like any good mother, Elsa gave the big snowman the attention he needed, fixed his melting body, all the while attempting to teach him to be civil.

"Apologize," said Elsa sternly to Marshmallow. The monster scoffed, "She's a friend."

"Sorry," it said then went back to patrolling the area.

"I don't see why you just didn't make one like Olaf," said Gerda still a bit shaken.

"It was a complicated time when I created him," said Elsa. "Now, what did you need?"

"An envoy from Weselton has arrived, and are requesting an audience with you," said Gerda who couldn't help but think that Marshmallow's unexpected arrival couldn't have possibly come under a worst time.

"Of course. I was waiting for this," said Elsa. She then turned to Marshmallow and tenderly said, "Be good big guy." She pointed to a boulder sitting half sticking up out of the ground, "And make sure no one, uh... disturbs this while I'm gone." Gerda looked at Elsa, puzzled while the queen melted her unscheduled snow storm, save a flurry to keep Marshmallow cool and headed towards the carriage. "He has to guard something or else he gets restless and grumpy."

Six months since the great thaw and already Elsa had well established herself as queen, but her policy to never again do business with Weselton, was highly controversial. The smaller business men couldn't be happier. Weselton's arm in Arendelle's trade nearly made it impossible for them to compete. The only thing that kept them from being run out completely was the closed gates, which prevented the Duke from gaining any leverage with the king to make things worse for them. They were worried Elsa's coronation would provide him that opportunity, but thankfully did not. The larger businessmen, particularly the nobles, weren't so happy as it severely disrupted the special deals on trade Weselton offered them. At least they couldn't argue with it as the Duke did try to kill the queen.

When Elsa came up by the road, Kai opened the carriage door allowing her entry. Gerda seated herself next to him at the driver's seat and off they went.

"My can you believe this?" said Gerda in a rather hushed tone.

"Humm?" responded Kai.

"Can you believe it's been twenty one years since we've been here?" said Gerda.

"Twenty-Two," Kai corrected her.

-o-

* * *

Twenty two years, when the King Agdar of Arendelle unexpectedly called Kai out to his castle to serve as his head steward. Kai knew the former prince, turned king from his days serving as a secretary to the head master of the university where the young man attended. "A terrible trouble maker" Kai described the youth as. A boy with too much energy and obviously too much time on his hands, participating in unruly activities on campus. True, he never did anything immoral, but he certainly was never one to shun a boxing match even if his opponent outweighed and reputably was more skilled than himself. Kai remembered more than one occasion where Agdar was called to the head master's office with a broken nose and a black eye, unwilling to name his assailant for the sake of "honor".

Many mistakenly believed that Elsa had taken after her father because of the seemingly calm character he showed in public, but in Kai's opinion, he'd say that title belonged to the young princess Anna, who time and time again displayed similar impulsive attitudes that often landed her in trouble. True, Elsa was no angel either, as she seemed determined to catch up on all the mischief she couldn't engage in as a child, and she and Anna fed off each other like nothing else, but in the end, she took more after her mother.

When they arrived to the castle for the first time, they were warmly greeted by the king and his pregnant young bride Idun. A beautiful woman, who was obviously a little shy, but hid it behind a curtain of poise.

"It's been a long time, my friend," said Agdar, embracing Kai.

"Indeed it has," said Kai. Kai then turned his attention to Gerda, "I believe I have never introduced you to my wife Gerda."

"I didn't know you were married," Agdar replied. He took one of Gerda's hands and gently folded it in his own. "You are most welcomed here."

He was polite. Charming. Everything he was taught to be, but Gerda couldn't help but think to herself how he was much too young to be a husband, much less a father. Though, Gerda could at least admire his effort even if he was clueless. As they all sat down in the seating room, Agdar went on and on with Kai about his shenanigans as a student, but none the less remained attentive to his young wife. Agdar didn't scold her when she rested her head against his shoulder, obviously tired and probably not feeling well, as Gerda seen many so called noblemen do to their women in public. Instead, he paused his talk for a moment, asked if Idun was okay, which she nodded.

"Well," he said kissing her forehead. "Let me know if I'm boring you, my dear. At any rate old friend, I suppose you're wondering why I called you, of all people, here."

"A little," Kai replied. "I'm sure there were many others of noble birth far more qualified to serve in this position."

"Yes, but truthfully I don't trust any of them."

"Well, many of them don't agree with your brother being tossed from the line of ascension," said Kai.

"Half brother actually. And that's exactly why I asked you to come here. Of all the people I know, you were the only one who could tell me the truth when it matters. I did many things that would have, by right, expelled me from the university. Yet not even the head master would dare actually do it, but I recall you always suggesting it," said Agdar.

"So you wish for me to be here because I wished your expulsion from a school whose rules you repeatedly broke?" said Kai.

"Exactly," said the king.

"Well, I shall do my best then," said Kai, clearing his throat, still a little puzzled about the king's logic. He thought for the longest time, he had made an enemy of Arendelle's royal family by challenging claims they could do no wrong.

"It's why I believe you will make an excellent steward. So far, the only one I can count on to give an honest opinion is my wife," said Agdar, which his compliment caused Idun to blush.

Idun whispered something to her husband, which he nodded.

"Very good. Now your wife, I trust she's a good woman," said the king.

"Yes."

"Children?"

"No."

"I don't expect her to sit in quarters with nothing to do. If your wife wishes for a paid position as well, then she shall have it," said Agdar.

"What sort of position, your majesty?" Gerda asked.

"Well, it would be the personal maid to my wife," said Agdar. Gerda wasn't comfortable with the idea. Not because of anything the king or queen did, but she found it difficult to be in the presence of an expectant woman, since she herself had no children, despite wanting them. "If you're not interested, or would like something else..."

"No, your majesty. It's fine," Gerda replied, though it wasn't. Unlike her husband, Gerda wasn't used to saying exactly what was on her mind in the presence of royalty. True, she was never particularly impressed with anyone of noble birth, but she wasn't ignorant of their power either.

"Good. Don't worry about your things. Since it's your first day, I'll have the others take care of it for now. I have need of your advise, Kai and the ladies, I suppose should get to know one another," said Agdar, helping his wife stand.

-o-

* * *

"Hey Elsa," said Anna, bouncing up to the carriage just as it pulled into the castle gate. The young princess was already up to the side waiting for Elsa to step out, before she embraced her sister in a tight hug.

"Anna..." Elsa gasped, trying to get air as Kai tried to hide his laugh. "We're in public."

"Wait, what? Oh, I don't care," said Anna, squeezing Elsa tighter than finally letting go. "Where were you anyway? You know how awkward it is to try and entertain those guys in there? Yeesh. You'd think their face was frozen shut or something... uh, no offense."

After what became known as the Great Thaw, Elsa appointed Anna as her Lady in Waiting. A bit irregular to have ones own sister in such a position, but after getting to know Anna a bit better, Elsa decided that she could best make her happy by giving her an actual job. Not something made up just to give Anna something to do, but an actual recognized position in court, complete with expectations and responsibilities. And granted Elsa was only just getting reacquainted with the world, she wasn't confident in anyone else taking up the role.

Anna's natural reaction was to jump for joy when Elsa told her that she would have something to do other lounging uselessly around the castle as the "spare"; only there in case something happened to Elsa before a "proper heir" was born. Elsa waited patiently for Anna to finally stop bouncing and ask, "So what do I do then?"

"Whatever I tell you," replied Elsa with a grin, completely amused at her sister's antics.

It wasn't so bad though. Elsa gave Anna quite a bit of responsibility with the appointment which included event planning (which was interesting to say the least), keeping distinguished guests entertained while they waited for their audience with the queen (something Anna was naturally good at), accompany Elsa to events (which she loved), and even speak for the queen if Elsa was in anyway unavailable (which she still needed work on).

"No offense taken Anna," Elsa said with a chuckle. "So how are they?"

"Oh my gosh. Let me tell you, these are the worst pigs you could imagine," said Anna. She looked around to make sure no one was within earshot once she realized what she just said out loud. "You know I already had to throw one out because he couldn't stop disrespecting a servant girl. I admit it's kind of nice to have that kind of power... but seriously."

"Is it the duke or...?"

"No. Thank goodness. I'd have punched him if it was. No, its his third cousin twice removed actually. I think... Or maybe a second cousin three times removed. I don't know. Someone related to him. But I tell you what, you owe me big for this one, because..." said Anna.

"Thank you for doing that," said Elsa cutting her sister off as she walked past Anna to formally greet the guests herself.

"Y-you're welcome." said Anna, surprised at the compliment. Anna always wanted Elsa's approval more than anything else, and went out of her way to get it. The poor girl almost tried too hard, not realizing she already had it.

When her sister was gone, Anna walked over to Gerda, "Hey, I think you should look in on Helga."

"May I ask why, your majesty?" said Gerda.

"Well, you know I just told... the queen that a guy um... wouldn't respect her. It was actually worse than that," said Anna.

"How much worse, your majesty?"

"Well, I don't know. I left the room a moment to catch my breath. Those guys do not know how to behave, but anyway, when I went out, he kind of had her in the hallway... One of the guards already stopped him, but couldn't really do anything because he's a nobleman and well she was pretty upset," said Anna.

"Where is she, your majesty?"

"She's in her chambers. I told her she didn't have to come back to work today."

"I see. I definitely will," said Gerda heading up right away.

-o-

* * *

"It sounds like you've been experiencing quite the political windstorm," said Kai after he listened for a good two and a half hours at the king's predicament.

"Indeed I have," Agdar responded, taking a drink of the fine scotch he liked to have imported from Scotland. "The council never agreed with my arranged marriage to Idun of Osbro, and neither was I too thrilled at it I admit. And Idun was less than happy. They suggest an annulment immediately and I remarry to someone who would be more beneficial to Arendelle in terms of an alliance."

"And why haven't you pursued it?"

"She's carrying my child," he said, though Kai looked at him skeptically.

Of course the nature of their arrangement wasn't secret. It was arranged by Agdar's step mother in some scheme to secure the former kingdom of Osbro's rumored magical secrets, yet after all was said and done; his half brother dropped from the line of ascension, and his step mother executed; Agdar didn't push for an annulment on the marriage even if one would have surely been granted. They hadn't been married that long, and the reason for it was truly disgusting. He touted the excuse Idun was a princess and already carrying his child, and he had to make proper arrangements for them first before he can send her away.

"That would leave my child raised as a bastard in some residence I set up somewhere just to get them out of the way or send her back to her father who would surely dissolve all my rights to the child," said Agdar, trailing off. How hard could a separate residency be for the King of Arendelle to set up? If it was truly his intention to do so, Agdar certainly took his time.

"If his majesty looked at the situation now, does he regret the marriage in anyway?" said Kai.

"No. Idun's a good proper woman. Lovely, really."

"Does he regret her pregnancy in anyway?" Kai asked. Agdar smiled, obviously recalling those nights with much fondness. Then the excitement he felt after she told him those nights led to her pregnancy. He acted like a young school boy, peppering her with kisses and literally sweeping her from her feet.

"No."

"How far is she along?" Kai asked.

"Two... No, three months. She's much better keeping track than I am," he said.

"At least that was before your step mother was executed," said Kai with a heavy sigh.

"So?"

"I'm trying to establish a diagnosis for your situation, as it makes little sense politically for you to remain married, given the circumstances. At this point it is my conclusion that his majesty is suffering from being madly in love," said Kai. Agdar smiled, knowing deep down it was true.

"It's not that. I need her council. Idun may not be good for the nobles or for Arendelle's already fat purse strings, but she's good for the people and the lesser nobles love her. She speaks their language, she understands their lives. Best of all, many underestimate her. With her around, it makes it more difficult for nobles to get away with the same petty scandals that let my step mother keep so much influence. I can hold them accountable for their actions now," said Agdar.

"I'm surprised to hear you say that. Many nobles would claim they are the voice of the commoner," said Kai. Agdar sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Which I would never dare interfere with. However, it is difficult to ignore the fact that Arendelle desperately needs a clean house. Barons suited for ruling are kept down by counts not able to tell their right hand from their left," said Agdar. He then sighed. "And it is as you say. I am madly in love with her."

* * *

**Next part coming soon. For those who are fans of my previous story, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you. Just trying to make an appropriate ending for that one.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yup, thanks for reading. I really actually enjoy this work, as it follows my more natural writing style which involves a lot of character development, relationship dynamics, and plot twists.**

**And as always, here's the random facts of the day, which if for no other reason, subscribe to my stories just for those ;): A traditional deck of cards contains 52 cards, and is believed to reference the 52 weeks of a year. The face cards consist of a king, queen and jack. It's obvious what a king and queen is, but a jack is a little less well known as to what it references. Another name for a "jack" is Knave or "fool" making the jack card the real joker of the deck. In fact, the English idiom, "You don't know jack" and "You don't got jack" all references to this single face card, which was often required to have a pair of, in order to remain in a poker game. In the mean time, the image of the queen in a deck of cards, is often believed to be the image of Elizabeth of York, the wife and queen consort of King Henry VII. And the king? Well he wasn't based on anything from what we can tell, unless you're playing with a French deck, in which the king cards have the names of "David" (Spades) "Charles" (Hearts), "Caesar" (Diamonds) "Alexander" (Clubs").**

**I can probably go on forever about decks of cards and wide variety of topics. To get more fun and interesting facts with your fanfiction, subscribe to my story. Or request reading of my own personal works in which you can expect an entire lecture on feudalistic societies.  
**

* * *

"Ah, your majesty," said the duke's third cousin twice removed or perhaps his second cousin three times removed? At any rate, whoever he was, Anna was certainly not kidding about the fact that he and his men were rude. The moment Elsa walked into the throne room, she saw the men had drank already quite a bit of wine, despite Elsa's policy that there was no drunkenness in her court. Elsa made a mental note to lecture Anna to carefully monitor guest's alcohol intake next time.

"We have been waiting for well over three hours for your arrival," he said without even allowing Kai opportunity to properly introduce him. The air of entitlement was so thick around the man Elsa could probably cut it with a knife. He seemed to forget whose court he was in, and the actions of his third or second or whatever cousin did to cause the trade disruptions to begin with. In short, he was an arrogant bastard who had no room to argue and was only being seen by the grace of her majesty. Anna could have had him thrown out already if she felt the need, but probably didn't in fear of displeasing Elsa. The last time she followed her heart and instincts, she nearly married Hans. Elsa made another mental note to lecture Anna that she had full trust and authority to follow whatever she felt was best.

"Your men arrived unexpectedly sir..." said Elsa.

"William, your majesty. Sir William," said the little man. He was just like his... relative, who was so confident that Arendelle couldn't do without him, that he felt he could do and say anything he wanted without consequence.

"At any rate, I hope your wait was hospitable," said Elsa, not daring to offer any sort of apology.

"Hospitable? That lady in waiting certainly needs to learn a thing or two about entertaining guests," said Sir William.

"That Lady in Waiting is my sister, Princess Anna of Arendelle and second in line to the throne," said Elsa. The man's face suddenly went uncomfortable as the situation became obvious after he realized the definite resemblance. While it was a mistake for Anna to ever suppose that Elsa would be displeased with her, she certainly understood the princess's actions. She probably got so fed up with them making demands of her and not taking her seriously, that she just told the servants to let them have what they wanted, just to keep them quiet, then let Elsa deal with it since they were obviously not listening to her.

"I-I apologize. I-I didn't realize her majesty held her sister in such high esteem as to make her a personal confident," he said, realizing Elsa didn't do to Anna what so many monarchs did with their younger siblings, particularly those next in line; put a extravagant dowry on them and hope someone will come and quickly take them off their hands.

"Now with that said, I think you and your men should go," said Elsa as the temperature in the room began to drop.

"W-wait your majesty. I would greatly appreciate if you would hear what we have to say," said Sir William. Ice began to form on her fingertips, longing to be unleashed. She couldn't place it exactly, but something about these men definitely seemed to cause her powers to go a bit on the fritz. It wasn't their drunkenness either, as it wasn't the first time Elsa had unruly diplomats with a bit too much booze.

"Your duke tried to oust me from the throne. I have nothing to say to you. Now if you would, please leave," said Elsa, starting to tremble

"Have you considered the lack of trade."

"Weselton was a close trading partner, not the only one."

"What about the price of goods?"

"I'm not worried about that."

"What about the military alliance?"

"Military alliance?"

"Yes. I have been authorized to potentially offer a modification to our original trade agreement to include a military alliance as well, should her majesty approve," said Sir William. Elsa looked at Kai and Kai back at Elsa.

"May I see your proposal?" said Elsa with reluctant sigh. In all honesty, she just wanted to tell them no with whatever they were offering and order them to get out, (or better yet, have Marshmallow do it) but she knew her nobles would be intrigued and want to know what it entailed.

"Of course," he said motioning his semi drunk steward forward.

"We'll examine the terms of these arrangements, and assemble again. In the meantime, I want to make it very clear, that I want to hear nothing more of your men abusing my help here. And all are confined to your quarters. Save Sir William who is to be seated at my table for dinner," said Elsa, her voice hinting its nervousness, and longing just to get this all over with.

"I beg your pardon," said Sir William as Elsa handed the parchment to Kai. "But these men are my personal escorts and friends, and you're treating them as though they're criminals."

"That is my final decision. I-I'm not negotiating. Now excuse me," said Elsa, feeling her control slip even further.

-o-

Gerda had served in households of noblemen before in order to earn extra money as her husband attempted to find more permanent work, so the mannerisms and expectations were not new to her. Her current mistress though, was a bit eccentric. Idun asked for little, all things considered, and certainly didn't seem to have the same toxic personality as many of her peers did. Always said "please" and "thank you" which Gerda was not used to.

None the less, habit made it to where Gerda kept her ears attentive of the personal happenings with the queen. Experience with less than noble women of high office taught Gerda that she had to keep up with gossip, comings and goings, as well as what things they talked about, and keep her own mouth shut about her own personal life. When it came down to it, blackmail was the only thing a servant had as defense should a situation get volatile.

The queen entertained guests who regularly appeared at the castle, taking their wives to the market to buy gifts, and challenging the ladies to card games. She used to take them on horseback rides through Arendelle's lush landscapes, but her condition has given her an excuse not to. There were also galas and balls on occasion as well. Gerda would be finishing cleaning the room when Idun would come in, sometimes with her husband, but increasingly alone as her pregnancy progressed and her energy simply didn't allow her to remain until events concluded anymore.

Which is how Gerda came to the realization that her mistress was extremely boring. She enjoyed tea, reading and art. That was it. And that made it difficult for her to fit in with a shallow, and often idol high society. She said nothing negative about the ladies whose company she kept, but Idun couldn't hide the look of relief when they were gone and she could simply be by herself.

It was all well by Gerda, as with all the controversy surrounding her marriage to Agdar, Gerda wasn't sure if she really needed the blackmail.

"Could you draw a bath for me, Gerda?" Idun asked once after coming in from what was particularly a stressful day with the Duchess of Brok. Once again, while Idun said nothing negative about the lady, Gerda could definitely see the thoughts were there.

Gerda felt it too. Earlier, Gerda had a request from the lady to go out and find her a peacock feather to replace the one that broke in one of those silly hats she wore.

"I'm sorry, my lady but I don't know where to get one," Gerda said, not even sure what a peacock even looked like though she was pretty sure she didn't see them anywhere in Arendelle. The feathers were pretty though with their beautiful blues and greens.

"Queen Idun, is your servant daft or just pretending to be so?" said the duchess. Gerda felt the sting of the insult.

"Neither," Idun quickly replied, almost as shocked as Gerda that the woman actually said that out loud.

"Then why can't she fulfill such a simple request?"

"That is not a simple request. We don't have those kinds of feathers here."

"You don't? What sort of kingdom is this to not have such things here."

"Well, my dear we are in Norway and I believe those feathers are native of India. And do believe that the specific reason your husband and yourself has come here, is to see if Arendelle could indeed negotiate a deal into those markets," said Idun, instinctively caressing her stomach. The duchess looked at the queen blankly as she couldn't add the information together, "We don't have feathers like that here. They come from the other side of the world."

"Well, couldn't you have your craftsmen make one?"

Both Gerda and Idun looked at each other. Idun's mouth began to open and close before she finally had to cough in order to keep her shock from escaping into her voice, "I do believe I feel a bit winded... I hope you understand."

"Of course my lady. Why if she would like me to accompany here. I do know a thing or two about... her condition."

"No, thank you," said Idun. "Gerda, if you would please."

"Yes, my lady," said Gerda, also trying to hide the fact she didn't think anyone of that low intelligence could actually exist. She certainly felt sorry for the duchy of Brok.

Gerda poked her head out of the chamber and asked for the tending servant girls to prepare the queen's bath. She then went back inside to see if her mistress needed anything else.

"People shouldn't insult you like that," said Idun quietly. Gerda thought for a moment realizing that the queen had in fact defended her. It was a subtle defense, but still more than Gerda could ever ask for or expect. Idun didn't have to. In fact, her duty was to impress her peers more than it was to do the right thing, particularly when the other person was a simpleton. A nobody.

"It's alright your majesty," said Gerda.

"No, it's not. Not here. Listen Gerda," said Idun taking the maid's hands into her own. "Agdar brought you here because he trusts your husband. And I trust you. And I have to tell you, your position won't be threatened by some dense duchess not able to get a feather for her silly hat."

"I apologize I wasn't sure what a peacock even looks like..."

"Neither do I," said Idun. Both of them laughed. Then Idun sighed. Her face said something was wrong and longed to tell someone. Anyone. But given the sorts of people she was surrounded by day to day, she had no one to confide in.

"Gerda," said Idun. "I'm worried."

"About what?"

"I'm worried that Agdar will turn me away," said Idun.

Gerda's instincts for survival told her to ask the queen more probing questions such as "why would you think that?" in order to see if there's any information she could use should she have to.

"He won't, your majesty," Gerda found herself saying instead, as though she spoke to a friend, not to royalty. At this time Idun sounded and acted like a friend, not royalty and so treated her according.

"No? Love is not something the council will consider. Nor the child's well being. Nor Agdar's feelings. And he won't talk about it. He just pretends everything is fine," said Idun. She fought to hold in some tears. "But it's not. I think... I think there's something wrong with the baby."

Gerda raised an eyebrow.

"I wake up in the morning and I feel... pain, just terrible pain. And sometimes, I feel unmistakeably cold, and I don't know what to make of it," said Idun.

Before Gerda could respond Agdar came into the room. "I hope I'm not disturbing anything," Agdar said, giving Idun a peck on the cheek. Gerda soon realized why Agdar seemed so clueless when she met him the first time; Idun never spoke to him about what was on her mind. He probably suspected them, and did the best he knew how, but he couldn't emotionally support her in her concerns and fears if he knew nothing of their depth.

As Gerda watched Agdar as he kissed Idun's stomach and gently talk to his unborn, she saw the queen's reason was just as she said; she didn't want to be turned away, and took every precaution that he wouldn't have any reason to. So she pretended that everything was perfect.

-o-

Since the castle gates opened six months ago, Elsa charged Gerda with fully staffing the castle, and placed her in charge of their supervision and well being. Helga was hired three months ago with a slew of other maids. A pretty unremarkable girl in many ways, but for Gerda, she made the perfect employee. She did what was asked and more without question, even staying beyond her hours.

When Gerda went to the servant quarters, Helga was there, obviously looking to leave the castle as quickly as she could.

"Helga? May I come in?" said Gerda, knocking on the door. She of course didn't wait for the girl to answer and just walked in as Helga was throwing her things into a bag. "What are you doing?"

"Princess Anna said I had the rest of the day off, so I'm taking it," said Helga shortly.

"It looks like you're taking more than just a day off," observed Gerda. Helga dropped her bag and folded her arms.

"I'm sorry Gerda... I just."

"It's alright dear, Princess Anna asked me to check on you is all. Are you okay?" said Gerda.

"No," said Helga, squeezing her eyes shut. "But I don't want to talk about it."

Gerda sat down on the bed, and patted the matress for Helga to sit. Helga did, but nervously twisted a white cloth. "I had a very good friend who kept a lot of things inside. Had she spoken up, things might have been very different for her and her family," said Gerda. Helga didn't respond, but Gerda saw in her face that her words were making her at least think. She leaned in close to her, "I know for a fact, the Queen is a good soul who will not tolerate anyone harming you."

"Y-you think the queen would see me?"

"Well, her sister will have something of a sense of justice, and be more than willing to petition the queen in your behalf. But speaking up is the only thing you can do right now"

-o-

Gerda opened the Queen's door, now twenty one years ago, carrying a small breakfast tray with her. She knocked gently and heard no reply. Protocol required Gerda to simply turn her head and walk the other way, and for a moment, that's what she nearly did, but her instincts drilled into her mind, telling her something was terribly wrong.

She hesitated about what to do, then decided to act on the instincts she knew was right. If the royal family wished to fire her, very well, but she couldn't ignore what was happening behind that door. With a shaking hand, Gerda pulled out her key and slid it in the lock. With a quick turn she opened the door to find the queen huddled in the corner, looking as though she was gasping for breath.

"Your majesty," said Gerda. Idun didn't reply as tears rolled down her face. Gerda knelt down in front of her, asking her what was the matter.

"I-I don't know," cried Idun. Gerda put her hand on Idun's forehead, feeling that the queen's skin turned ice cold.

"Your majesty, we have to find you a doctor," said Gerda.

"No... then Agdar will know," said Idun. Gerda looked at her, puzzled. Agdar had to know that his wife and unborn child's well being was in jeopardy. And truthfully, while Gerda still didn't think highly of the man, she certainly saw nothing in his character that would turn Idun away. Everything that she observed, the man was infatuated with his queen and showed a rare interest in his child.

"Know what, your majesty?" said Gerda.

"He just can't know," said Idun. Shaking her head. But Gerda waited patiently for her mistress to say so. True, she had never respected royalty in her entire life, but Idun was one someone couldn't help but love. She was so quiet, sweet, and calm. "He can't know this baby is cursed."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! And as always, please review so that I can one day leave this world of fanfiction writing and marry my prince... Subscribe and I won't have to. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Fact of the day: Want to make something float that doesn't? Add salt. Things float because of buoyancy, which essentially, is that fluid has an upthrust and when it's equal to the weight of the fluid displaced, the object will float. By adding salt you will increase the density of the water, allowing for more upthrust. Don't believe me? Put an egg in water, see what happens before and after you add table salt. (PS- While researching for this fact of the day, I did discover that an unopened can of diet soda floats while a regular unopened can will sink... I challenge someone to try it on Red Bull, then write a review or PM me with what happened.)**

* * *

Elsa paced back and forth, trying to get herself under control. To be honest, Kai found the randomly falling snow and Elsa's constant muttering to herself rather disturbing, but he kept his peace. She seemed still in control more or less, despite the fine white blanket she was creating. She was her mother's daughter after all, and the late queen tended to work herself up at that age too. It was best not to stop Elsa or even talk to her, let her run her course, and try to ignore the unnatural snowfall. Besides, like her mother, Kai was fairly confident Elsa would work her way out of that phase once she was properly readjusted to the world; a chore himself, Anna and Gerda patently worked with her and for the most part it paid off. Elsa was semi normal. She was a bit of a recluse still, who burned out quickly when around people, but enjoyed using her powers especially when it made others happy. So at least that kept her from hiding behind closed doors again. Gerda would say, "She just needs a good, sensitive man to settle her down." Kai just hoped that "good man" knew what he would be getting himself into and had a lot of patience for her powers.

Once Elsa stopped her pacing, and the snow and ice began to thaw, Kai decided to risk discussing the matter at hand. "It will be hard to convince the council not to want you to sign this," said Kai.

"I know that!" said Elsa, causing frost to form this time. Kai patiently sighed. Working with her father was so much easier. Of course her father could be moody as well, but at least it wasn't accompanied by sometimes dangerous ice storms. Elsa looked nervously around at the rough coating of ice. She looked back at Kai, and with a barely audible voice said, "I'm sorry... I..."

"It's quite alright your majesty. Perhaps you shall like to go to the ballroom or outside to release this?" said Kai pointing to the mess she made.

"M-may I?" she said. Kai looked out the window.

"You don't have to ask my permission. You are the queen after all. And it seems rather empty at this time," said Kai, not in the least bit surprised she asked. Old habits die hard, his father used to say, and Elsa spent her childhood under constant supervision to where asking to go outside did indeed require permission and someone, usually her parents, accompanying her. And she never stayed out for very long, usually wanting to come back in within an hour.

"Okay," said Elsa wrapping her arms around her and heading out the door.

"Though I do suggest her majesty take the way that doesn't lead near the guest rooms," said Kai opening the door for her. Elsa nodded.

They rounded a corner that rarely anyone ever went, only to hear a couple giggles and quieted voices talking. An occasional _shhhh _here and there as well. They found Anna and Kristoff, not so discreetly kissing and carrying on near one of the old Norse suites of armor the late king was so fond of. Anna was pushed up against the wall, her hands buried in Kristoff's hair and Kristoff's arms around her waist. Elsa certainly didn't like where Kristoff's hands were moving to, judging by the way the temperature was dropping.

"Hey, is it getting a little cold here?" whispered Kristoff.

"It's not me," said Anna.

"I know... it's just unnerving."

"What do you expect in the castle of 'Little Miss Winter-Wonderland'?"

"_Ah hem_," said Kai, faking a cough.

"Oh," said Anna as she and Kristoff broke it off. With a big ear to ear grin she said, "Heeeeey Kai." Then her eyes moved over to very disappointed looking sister, and that grin immediately disappeared. "And Elsa... oh hey... we were just... um... you know."

"Anna, come with me," said Elsa as she continued her walk to the courtyard. She glared back at Kristoff who was left dumb founded as she scratched the back of his head.

"Well," said Kai readjusting the gloves on his hand as Elsa and Anna disappeared down the hall. "Good luck to you sir."

"'Good luck to you sir'?" said Kristoff. "What the heck is that suppose to mean? She's not that mad is she? I mean come on. I don't know what she thinks we were doing... Okay stupid comment."

"I beg your pardon sir, but it's nearly impossible for anyone to tell what her majesty is thinking," said Kai looking at the frost. "But I can assure you, she's not happy."

Elsa threw the courtyard doors open, finally releasing all her pent up emotions now that they were in a safe spot. Soon the entire garden was covered in Elsa's magic, formatting in a huge snow piles and an aggressive snowfall.

"Elsa, wait. Come on, what is this all about? It's not like we haven't done stuff like that before," said Anna with a lot of confusion in her voice.

"'Little Miss Winter-Wonderland' Anna?" said Elsa.

"Oh," said Anna, blinking. "You heard that, huh? Okay I didn't mean it like that... You know I love your powers. I didn't know you and Kai were standing there... why were you there anyway?"

"Anna, we've talked about this..."

"Yeah, we've talked about it. 'Princesses are suppose to be discreet. They're not suppose to make out with guys, especially not commoners. Your relationship with Kristoff is highly controversial right now. Between your engagement to Hans and quick relationship with Kristoff, you're on very thin ice of getting a bad reputation so it's best you just keep it secret. _Blah, blah, blah.'_ Really Elsa? All we've been doing in this family is keep secrets. It's my life and it's not like we were looking to have people see us. We were in the middle of the most deserted hallway ever not in public. I can't help it if you decide to go the same direction."

Elsa looked up, "Fine. You didn't do anything and I overreacted and I'm sorry. But promise me, you and Kristoff won't be so straight forward and won't do anything immoral until you're married."

"Why does it matter to you whether I do anything or not?" said Anna throwing her hands up in the air. "If it's about preventing some kind of scandal then seriously what's it anyone's business? Why can't I just live my life the way I want to?"

"Because you're a princess Anna. And no one wants to the two of you together, that's why," said Elsa. She sat down on one of her snow banks, breathing hard with her arms crossed. If anyone knew the consequences of simply living without any regard to responsibility, it was Elsa. She paid a heavy price to escape to North Mountain. She settled down a bit. "Anna, if you get pregnant..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Pregnant? Seriously, Elsa! Talk about jumping to the worst case scenario. You're acting like Kristoff and I are just sleeping together and we're not."

"I'm not saying you are. I'm just warning you..."

"Warning me? Great, Elsa. What are you planning on doing this time if I don't follow your perfectly laid out road map? You froze the entire summer, how about you plan on freezing the entire sierra too?" said Anna.

"Enough Anna," said Elsa.

"Oh enough of what? Go ahead and freeze everything. See if I care. While you're at it, maybe you ought to run away again too. Heard North Mountain is lovely this time of year. And for your information Queen Elsa, who can't stay out of my personal life, I'm still a virgin and Kristoff and I have already stated we're both staying that way until marriage," said Anna before she stomped off.

Honestly, Elsa wasn't sure why she reacted the way she did. She "caught" Anna and Kristoff before and it never bothered her per se. She liked to see them happy, and she doubted Anna would do anything wrong after her experience with Hans. To her credit Anna was being discreet; at least as discreet as humanly possible for Anna. Elsa's anger was probably more due to the fact she felt so stressed recently and with Westleton here again, she wasn't in the mood to deal with any additional "ammo" Anna could be unintentionally giving her political enemies at this time. And more than anything, she was frustrated that Anna seemed so oblivious to the entire political situation in Arendelle.

Anna's involvement with Kristoff instead of a prince with rich lands and a strong army made it appear as though Elsa cared nothing for her kingdom. Sure, she wouldn't dare take happiness from her sister, but Elsa told Anna to keep it low key and take it slow, until she gained the confidence of her subjects and council to allow them to move forward. Anna agreed, and totally did the opposite... as usual.

When Anna entered the castle, she stomped her feet down on the carpet to kick off the snow. She was greeted by Gerda, who she didn't even look at as she tried to pull of her shoes, hopping around like a limp chicken as she was too lazy to undo the simple buckle.

"Your majesty, I was wondering if it would be alright if one of the servants arranges an audience with the queen," said Gerda.

"Yeah nice, Gerda. You know I would love to have Elsa sit down and chat with every servant in this castle. Maybe have a bit of tea with them too while she's at it. But in case you can't tell by the big snow pile outside, I'm not exactly on Queen Elsa's good side at the moment," said Anna, now trying for her other wet shoe. The only time Anna ever called Elsa "Queen Elsa" was when they were either arguing or Anna was just trying to annoy her sister. True, she was suppose to refer to Elsa as "queen" whenever they were in public, but naturally not being well versed in poise and etiquette, Anna either forgot frequently, or just didn't care and like a typical sibling, used it for pure annoyance.

"I see," said Gerda.

"So as you can see, no one is... oh," said Anna finally looking up and seeing that Gerda was standing with a very distraught looking Helga. "Hey, you know, Elsa's not exactly in the mood right now, so it's more or less at your own risk. Though I'm sure she'll listen. I mean, she definitely needs to hear it. And she's really nice even if she is, well you know, a stinker at times. Just tell her I said it was okay."

"Thank you," said Gerda. "Come on dear."

Gerda walked right out into the unnatural snow drifts like it was a matter of routine for her. It was odd, annoying and she more than once wished Elsa practiced better control, but knew that was impossible. It simply wasn't how things worked when it came to her powers, and she could only hope to release them as safely as possible. But it didn't matter. Gerda was just happy to see Elsa not hiding anymore, and if a few unnatural snowfalls is what it took, Gerda was satisfied with it.

They found Elsa sitting cross legged in the snow, one hand curled in a fist under her chin and the other crafting little shapes with the ice. Helga hesitated, having never seen Elsa's powers before. Yes she worked at the castle. Yes, she felt "the Snow Queen's presence" as the other servants said she would, and she remembered the first time she saw the little walking snowman known as "Olaf" wandering through the halls scaring her half to death, but never had she seen it this prevalent. She looked back at Gerda. "She won't bite you," said Gerda, though Elsa's body language and mannerism showed the queen was more or less shut down emotionally.

With a deep breath, Gerda told Helga to wait a moment. She knelt down next to Elsa, and whispered to the queen, "Is everything alright your majesty?" Gerda asked. Elsa shook her head. "I'm very sorry about that. If it would please you, I could find Olaf if it would cheer her majesty up a bit?"

"That would be wonderful," said Elsa.

"Okay, but at this moment, I have someone who needs to speak with you," said Gerda. Elsa stood up, brushed her dress off and approached Helga, whose own nervousness was peaking.

"I understand there's something you wish to speak to me about," said Elsa.

Helga looked to Gerda, who encouraged her with a subtle nod as if to say, "Go ahead." But even Gerda's encouragement couldn't get Helga to loosen her tongue in front of the queen. It was embarrassing to speak about, and she felt so instantly judged.

"There was an incident with one of the guests," said Gerda finally speaking up for Helga.

"Yes, I know," said Elsa. She put a gentle, yet cold hand on Helga's shoulder, "It's alright, it's already been taken care of. They've been warned and it won't happen again."

"But..." said Helga as the queen began to make her way inside. Elsa abruptly turned.

"Is there more?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"N-no your majesty," said Helga, quietly. Elsa looked at her suspiciously but seeing that the maid wasn't willing to talk further, Elsa just left. There was nothing she could do without an accusation, and truthfully, she didn't feel in the mood to press the matter further.

"Why didn't you tell her?" Gerda asked.

"Did you see her? Do you think she wanted to listen? I told you. All she wanted was just to put a bandage on it and get me out as quickly as possible," said Helga. Gerda gave a heavy sigh, knowing that nothing was further from the truth. However, it would be useless to try and explain to Helga that catching Elsa at a bad time wasn't the cause of this. That had she explained everything, something would have been done for sure.

-o-

Agdar found himself at a pretty difficult situation before Kai came, but after speaking with his old friend, it didn't take them long figure what to do. Kai suggested to the king that if he didn't trust his nobility, he shouldn't pretend as though he did. After all, Agdar said the root cause of Arendelle's issues was in the fact that the noble classes weren't being held accountable. So they devised a plan to where Agdar called each of Arendelle's outlining provinces to send a full report on their land's status, calling specifically for crop yields, goods secured, prospering businesses, population growth, overall wealth and any significant trade partners. Then he and Kai would personally make a trip out to each of the lands themselves and compare it to the reports. They would move quickly from province to province, keeping their visit as quiet as possible. A lengthy interview with Idun, who knew many rumors and such through her mingling with the ladies, helped Kai set a prospective schedule where the least trusted nobles received the visit first, before they had time to really prepare. It also made the trip chaotic, and difficult for an outsider to predict, which also served to keep the nobles off balance.

Still, despite moving quickly, with the insanity of the schedule, it would take Agdar several weeks to complete the tour. This made Idun nervous, knowing she was to be left alone for weeks on end, but Agdar assured her everything would be just fine. He promised to stay in contact with her while he was away.

Agdar woke in the early morning hours on the day he was meant to set out on this trip and looked over to his wife sleeping beside him. As her pregnancy progressed, the midwife suggested it best if Idun had separate chambers, allowing for undisturbed rest. When Agdar came to say good bye before his departure, his stay ended up being longer than expected. Soon enough he fell asleep in her chambers, and secretly hoped it'd take Kai awhile to find him.

It didn't of course, and soon enough, Kai gently tapped on the door as to not wake the queen.

"Are you ready to leave, sir?" said Kai, cracking the door open.

"Yes," said Agdar, rubbing his eyes as he sat up. "In a moment actually."

Kai nodded and left. Agdar turned onto his side and gave Idun a kiss on the cheek then placed his hand on her stomach. "Be good to your mother, little one."

He grabbed his shirt and boots and quietly left. When the door closed, Idun curled up, and began to cry uncontrollably.


	4. Chapter 4

**Heya! I'm not getting a whole lot of reviews with this one. Personally I'm actually experimenting with flashbacks and seeing how audiences like them. So tell me what you think.**

**Fact of the day: The International Space Station is falling! No seriously. But don't worry. That's what it's suppose to do. When things orbit the Earth, they are actually in a constant state of falling, which also makes you weightless while in space. However, if you were to build a skyscraper clear up to where the International Space Station is orbiting, you wouldn't be just floating away into space. You will actually be standing there... like normal, because you would not be in a state of falling. Weird, huh?**

* * *

"Our first stop is about six hours away," said Kai as he and Agdar settled down in the carriage. Agdar looked out the window with a weary smile. While the young man has grown since his college days, but still had no clue how to rule. His mind was on Idun, and nothing else, which was something certainly to be admired if he were a private man, but Agdar was Arendelle's king. The recent events with his step mother has left the entire kingdom weak, and vulnerable. Kai knew this, as he heard the rumors while he still worked at the university of the council of Arendelle possibly giving a vote of no confidence and ousting him from his throne. The decision has to be unanimous, true, but such things are not completely unheard of. After all, that is what happened to his half brother.

Six hours gave Agdar a lot of time to think about it all.

"What disturbs me," said Kai, raising an eyebrow, "is how we plan on handling questions concerning your marriage."

"You want to discuss that now?" said Agdar, raising an eyebrow.

"They will come up sooner rather than later, Sire. And since we have six hours, perhaps we should discuss it now."

"Discuss it now?" said Agdar rubbing his chin. "I'm not sure what there is to discuss. The only reason I stay married to Idun is because I love her and can't imagine life without her."

"Tell me how all this occurred. From your perspective, sire. Then perhaps when I understand the situation completely, I can best assist you. Surely there was some reason why your step mother opted to marry you off to this girl. Something we can perhaps sell to the council."

"Very well," said Agdar with a sigh. "You understand that my father was granted an annulment from my step mother Bergetta at least two years before my birth. He remarried to my mother and all seemed well. That was until he died when I was seventeen.

"As you know, it is law in Arendelle that a heir cannot take the throne until they reach the age of twenty-one. And my mother, unfortunately, was the daughter to the Duke of Weselton's steward. It was viewed by the council as a weak alliance, but it was my father's wishes to not have a wife who wielded so much influence as Queen Bergetta did.

"Suddenly my father died and Queen Bergetta returned with her son, my half brother Njal to lay claim on the throne. She argued the annulment was illegal and that rightfully placed my brother directly into the line of ascension. And with her powerful influence, she was able to send my mother back to her own kingdom and household. I personally wished to join her, but my mother convinced me to stay, and continue to fight for Arendelle and my father's legacy. Bergetta then convinced the council that she should become my legal guardian until I came of age. She of course, sent me to the university to get me out of the way for a short while. Until I dropped out of course.

"When I was twenty, out of nowhere, Bergetta invited the king of Osbro to Arendelle. Have you ever heard of Osbro, Kai?"

"Not much," Kai admitted. "I heard of talk of going to war with the rest of the realm. They had secured a weapon of massive power..."

"You have no idea how much of an understatement that is. Yes, they tried to go to war with the rest of the realm. Even dabbled in magic to do it. With so many sanctions against them by that time, they were probably the most pathetic kingdom the world has ever seen."

"Then why did she want an alliance with them?"

"I don't know. During the course of the negotiations, Bergetta questioned them heavily about that magic. The king finally got so frustrated he said, 'I don't see why you're so interested in that part of our history. A man came named Floki. He offered his service. He took the oaths. And then he turned on us. That is all.'

"When Bergetta asked him why he would turn on them, the king further stated, 'He claims he lost control. He blabbered on and on about a lake named Gow having cursed him. I don't believe that. Nor should you. The man was a monster. His reputation to practice the dark arts was well deserving.'"

Kai thought for a moment. Everyone knew that Osbro was destroyed by what was described as a terrible magic experiment gone wrong. And their ambitions to raise an army and overthrow the surrounding kingdoms was also equally well known. However, after the incident, Osbro more or less, sealed its borders and refused to allow anyone in to investigate.

"I've never heard of anyone named Floki, sire. Certainly not anyone wielding magical powers."

"Neither have I, old friend. I wrote several letters to the kingdoms in Lapland where Floki apparently came from. Many of them simply described him as a little strange, hardly good looking. Fancied himself something of a spiritual adviser. Convincing too, which allowed him access to high society. They knew of no magic other than the fact he seemed to be able to convince any woman he came across to sleep with him. One claimed he fathered at least twelve bastards during his brief six month stay in their lands."

"Busy fellow," commented Kai. "Makes you wonder how much spiritual advising he actually did."

"Or what kind. At any rate, I personally saw nothing to be gained from this marriage, and neither did the council. But my step mother remained ambitious and the king of Osbro was more than willing to have Idun taken off his hands. He seemed to hate her, actually. And who could blame him? His wife's reputation as a shrew was equally as well known. I wouldn't be surprised if he was convinced Idun wasn't his. You could tell how he looked at her, and referenced something about a 'mistake' being made."

"You do realize that her not actually being the king of Osbro's daughter presents a terrible problem for you. Your marriage is already highly unpopular as it is."

"Believe me, there's no proof of it, thank goodness. It wasn't a concern to my step mother either. She continued with negotiations as though there was something to be gained with it all. And when it was all over, they agreed to a year long engagement. I should have known better when Bergetta insisted that Idun stay in Arendelle a little while so she and I could get to know one another. The moment the king and his escorts left later that night, was the moment Bergetta had the both of us whisked away to the cathedral and wed by some priest she paid off. So much for a happy occasion. Worse was my step mother telling soldiers to take Idun to our marriage chamber like she was a prisoner, then lecturing me for an hour about how it was time for me to be a man. To do my duty to my father and bed Idun immediately as to produce an heir. Her own son seemed to be... how shall I put it? 'Incapable' of the task, not surprisingly so it was my job.

"I wouldn't do it of course. I had never slept with a woman my entire life and no woman deserves to be forced. We slept in the same room to keep up appearances, but it's not in my nature to harm anyone, much less an innocent. Besides, doing something so terrible would allow Bergetta to win," said Agdar. He chuckled a bit as he recalled the times he and Idun would duck away into some spare bedroom, pretending to "get busy" until she would leave. Then they'd sneak out when the coast was clear and go enjoy leftover desserts while sitting on the kitchen floor, telling each other jokes.

"She's pregnant now," said Kai.

"True. That happened quite a bit later with her consent, mind you. After she told me she loves me, and I realized I loved her. By that time we had spent so much time together in that nightmare, protecting one another in both honor and virtue that she became the most important thing in my life. I suppose none of this is helpful though."

"Not particularly since none of it makes any sense. If the king of Osbro's magic came from a man named Floki, why didn't step mother seek him out?"

"If she could find him. The king of Osbro says his men put a bullet in the man's head and let his body sink down into the ocean."

"None the less, a marriage to Idun would do nothing to secure magic secrets," said Kai.

"As I said, Bergetta was mad. And whatever she hoped to accomplish with this marriage, died with her," said Agdar.

-o-

"I don't get it Gerda," said Anna as she got ready for a formal dinner with the guests from Weselton. Gerda was patiently picking up the more casual wear the princess discarded in favor of a formal dress. Anna wasn't a total slob, but she certainly wasn't very tidy either, and ran on the philosophy of "enjoy now, clean up later." Except she almost never cleaned up after enjoying something and she was almost always enjoying something. She also ran across the excuse time and time again "Who's going to see my bedroom anyway?" Gerda certainly ran out of reasons over the years, using anything from "It's a reflection of what's inside you" to "Well, I don't care who sees it or not, it's not for a princess to live in a pig sty!"

At least now it was something of an organized mess more or less. Clothes stayed in the closet, even if they were haphazard, papers on the desk, even if there was no room to write, and shoes... well, shoes needed a little work still.

"After everything we've been through, you'd think she'd think a little higher of me," said Anna.

"Well, your majesty, I do believe she thinks rather highly of you," said Gerda.

"Yeah? Well, she sure has a funny way of showing it," said Anna.

"How would you have her show it?" Gerda asked.

"I don't know. Say 'good job'. Or 'nice to see you'. Or 'Hey you're so totally awesome, I think I'll let you rule the kingdom from now on'," said Anna. Gerda's eyebrow raised at the last comment. "That was a joke... Honest."

"If you were to be honest with yourself," said Gerda as she brushed a bit of lint off the sleeve of Anna's dress. "Is that what you'd expect her to say after you were caught in the hallway with Kristoff?"

"Okay, maybe not then, but you know what I'm talking about... If I hug her, she always has to remind me how we're in public. If I say anything when we're together she has to remind me that I'm talking to much. And I wasn't even making out with Kristoff in public. Seriously, would she rather we go into one of the bedrooms?"

"I honestly can't speak for the queen, your majesty," said Gerda. "That's something you have to ask her yourself."

"Ask her? Yeah great idea. How do I do that exactly? Walk up to her and say 'Hey Elsa, why do you treat me like dirt? It's really annoying...'"

"Perhaps not like that your majesty, but I'm certain you'll figure it out. I don't have much advise on the matter, I'm afraid, but I will say this, I do know a great deal that these things tend to be more problematic the longer you wait to fix them. And you do have a knack for figuring things out," said Gerda.

"You're right. Who's the one that brought Elsa back from the Ice Palace? Okay that was technically Hans, but still. I'm going to march right in there, and show Elsa I totally mean business."

And of course she did, doing what she referred to as the "triumphant Anna-walk" marching down the hall with her head held high, almost like she was marching right to that dinner. Gerda just smiled and chuckled to herself. She sure came a long way from that young quirky girl who didn't quite know her place in the world to a powerful confident, young woman with all the grace and poise...

"Ugh," said Anna as she face planted right in the hallway, tripping over probably nothing. "I'm okay!"

Anna briefly went over the sitting arrangement when she arrived to the dinning hall. She of course was seated at Elsa's right hand as usual, and arranged that Sir William be seated furthest from her. Not at the end of the table like an honored guest, but still to the side. It was a show of distrust for the unwelcomed visitors and Elsa agreed.

"Did Papa teach you that?" Elsa asked.

"Huh?" said Anna.

"Papa used to tell me that if you don't trust someone, you shouldn't pretend as though you do," said Elsa.

"Well, I don't know. Papa said a lot of things to me. 'Stand right there.' 'Don't do that.' 'Mind yourself.' Don't think he ever told me that one though," said Anna, trying to hint that she had a knack for something. Elsa chuckled a bit at Anna's ramble, not realizing that she was indeed a natural ruler. A bit of an unorthodox, clumsy one, but one none the less. Anna, though, a little sensitive at the moment, didn't see it as such. In fact, she didn't know what to see it as, since, as mentioned before, it was impossible to tell what Elsa was thinking at any given time.

"Your majesties, Sir William of Wes-el-ton and company," said Kai, carefully pronouncing the name correctly this time.

"Company?" said Elsa, her eyes widening.

"Oh boy," said Anna as Sir William walked in with three separate individuals.

"I had confined your men to their quarters," said Elsa sternly.

"I understand your majesty, but please, allow me to introduce..."

"No, I'm not interested in having them at my table," Elsa said quietly, turning to take her seat.

"Well," said Anna with a shrug, "You heard the queen. No uninvited guests at her table. And I wouldn't make her mad if I were you. You guys are already on thin enough ice."

"Your majesty, I would implore you that you allow these people to dine with you at your table," said Sir William.

"You can't implore the queen to do anything in her own kingdom," said Anna. Sir William wanted to say something to Anna, and normally he would to any other lady in waiting. However, he held his tongue, remembering that Anna was the second in line to the throne; someone who should, by rights, have her own entourage and married off somewhere, not be entrusted to be in such close quarters to the queen. That was a duty for cousins or others who were not so much a political threat.

"Your majesty," said Sir William, settling with talking over Anna rather than addressing her as was proper. "These gentlemen are my two sons Sean and Luke. And this fine woman is my wife, Ethel."

"I was meant to come this morning, your highness, however my carriage was delayed," Ethel replied.

"How many more guests are you inviting to bring along here?" said Elsa, rather curtly. Ethel was rather taken back by how direct Elsa was. Elsa was always rumored to be a kind, considerate queen, and those who stayed at the castle were always treated with the highest level of respect, even if they were uninvited.

"That is all, your majesty," said Sir William.

"Very well. Kai, set three more places, and we shall be seated," said Elsa.

"I apologize your majesty, but I had assumed that with your generous reputation..."

"You know, you seem to be doing a lot of assuming for a guy from a duchy that tried to kill the queen," said Anna as they took their seats.

"My cousin, at this time, has been placed on indefinite house arrest for that. In fact, part of the reason why I have come here is to assure her majesty that the realm has dealt with him appropriately, and that perhaps she should consider resuming trade," said Sir William.

"How comforting," said Elsa, less than convinced.

"I understand it can never undo what was done, of course. We're not pretending as though it will. We are hoping that perhaps this gesture would show her majesty just how serious we are at making amends with Arendelle," said Sir William.

"If I understand our history correctly, it was Weselton's support that helped your father build the kingdom, and earn the confidence and trust of his subjects," said Sean. Elsa and Anna looked at each other. They certainly weren't aware of anything regarding their father ever needing Weselton's support. They were always told the partnership between the territories was a mutually beneficial trade agreement and nothing more.

Kai sighed, which unfortunately Elsa noticed and she certainly was more than disappointed he didn't fill her in. But how could he? During her isolation, he was under strict rules to not upset her in any fashion, and that aspect of her father's reign left much for her to be upset about. He was more than relieved at Elsa cutting off ties to the duchy, knowing he would never have to get into that subject for awhile, especially with Elsa's slow progress in rejoining the outside world.

"Well, my father is no longer here," said Elsa.

"Yes, I understand that. But I would that her majesty take into careful consideration what we offered. Arendelle's not exactly a very strong country militarily. Weselton can do much for that. With the Southern Isles becoming more hostile," said Sir William.

"That sounds intriguing," said Elsa. "But, what's to keep Weselton from breaking their end of the bargain? Your duke didn't seem to think a valuable trade agreement was enough to keep his men from coming at me."

"How about then a marriage proposal? My son Sean, and your sister?" said Sir William.


	5. Chapter 5

**Fact of the Day: Camels drink up to 25 gallons of water at a time... If you drank that much you'd be peeing til next August. But even more interesting is that they don't actually store water in their hump. They store it in their blood stream.**

**For more facts of the day, check out my stories from time to time. PS- Leave a comment if there's something you would like me to research and include as a fact of the day.**

* * *

Elsa was more than angry when she and Kai stepped out in the hallway after she excused herself from the table.

"What happened between Arendelle and Weselton?" she scolded as she marched down the hall. She then stopped, "No, more important, why didn't you tell me?"

It took a moment for Kai to consider it. He and the late king had already visited many of Arendelle's counties and the tour was going remarkably well. Most counts were surprised by the visit, and one revealed he lied tremendously on his report regarding the state of his lands. Others were revealed to have unauthorized trade partners, and some bribes were even uncovered. They headed to the next destination quickly, a small barony nestled in the mountains, and hoped this visit to be quick. The baron was the father in law of Agdar's brother and given how much he disliked Njal, the visit was low on the list. In fact, both men hoped this one visit would conjure support for Agdar's rule.

The trip was enlightening, to say the least. Kai realized just how unpopular Agdar was at the moment, and feared this trip would make him even less so. Luckily his unpopularity was among nobles who had skeletons in their closets, and certainly the trip allowed for enough blackmail to keep them under the king's thumb for years. Agdar's marriage to Idun, the one trump cards all the nobles had against the king, was suddenly taken from them as they struggled to readjust themselves. There would be no more talk of a potential annulment for a very long time unless they wished Agdar to bring something against them. This would keep Agdar and his family safe, at least for awhile.

And as they headed onwards to the next destination, Kai realized that was entirely the purpose behind the king bringing him here in the first place.

_So long as no one knows that she may not be the king of Osbro's daughter,_ Kai reminded himself. That revelation still hung heavy over Kai's mind. He was assured there was no evidence, but such things tended to reveal themselves, experience had taught him.

The carriage came to a sudden, unexpected halt.

"What is the meaning of this?" said Agdar hanging his head out the window.

"Hello brother. I'm here to escort you back to the castle," said a man standing in the roadway. Behind him, there were several others, obviously hired men. Agdar hadn't brought many along, in fear that too big of an entourage would draw the attention to his movements. As such, the soldiers easily outnumbered him.

"Njal," Agdar growled.

"Nice to see you too," said Njal.

"Let me guess, you're upset that I got to be king after all," said Agdar rolling his eyes. Despite the fact he had more soldiers than Agdar. Despite the fact he was armed and Agdar wasn't. Despite the fact he was probably here to end Agdar's life, Agdar still refused to take Njal seriously.

No one really did. The man was worthless, temperamental, and had a reputation as a "mama's boy". These were probably more the reasons why the council didn't take his bid for the crown of Arendelle all that serious. They took Lady Bergetta serious, and once she was found guilty of treason, Njal lost anything and everything that made anyone even consider him a candidate for the throne.

"You shut up," snarled Njal. "I'm the Baron of this land."

"Since when?" said Agdar. Njal pulled from his pouch a document, stamped by the former baron's seal and signed by his hand. In it, the late Baron decreed that Njal was to be his successor by right of marriage to his daughter. Kai questioned Agdar, and Agdar did confirm that Njal was indeed married to the baron's daughter for five years now. But with the well known mistreatment of the poor girl, Agdar was a bit surprised that the baron would still allow his son-in-law to have his lands.

"Do you believe there were bribes and threats involved?" Kai asked, quietly.

"What else could it be? The baron couldn't possibly be okay with the way Njal treated, and probably still treats, his only child. And that's certainly how they got married to begin with," said Agdar.

"Well, this got a whole lot more interesting," said Kai.

"How so? It's not like the man could do anything without his mother anyway," said Agdar.

Despite the fact the baron despised Agdar with every inch of his soul, he still came under the obligation to welcome the king with dinner at his manor, and then a tour of his barony. Unlike many of the other nobles and counts, Agdar immediately had the feeling that Njal's claim to the province was rather thin and certainly couldn't afford doing anything controversial, especially without his mother to protect him.

As they all sat down, Agdar, Kai, Njal and Njal's wife Isuelt, Kai felt the air of distrust rise. The first few moments normally were filled with small talk, but this time it was filled with a dreadful silence.

"So, how is your wife?" Njal asked, making the first move and asking a question that seemed harmless, but none the less irked Agdar.

"She's well, no thanks to you," said Agdar.

"I heard she's pregnant," said Njal. Agdar's face darkened as if to warn Njal that none of what he said was anyone's business. "Don't give me that look, Agdar. I find it interesting that you're willing to do the 'honorable thing' for it, knowing where it comes from."

Isuelt looked up, shot a look at Kai as if to tell him that she wished to say something important, but obviously wasn't sure if she could trust either of the brothers on the matter.

"Not that you would even know what honor is," said Agdar.

"Husband," said Isuelt, quietly.

"What?" Njal snapped, causing her to jerk back.

"I-I think I would like to excuse myself," she said.

"Go. Leave. Please. This table is crowded enough," said Njal, failing his arm to wave her off. When she was gone Njal continued as though their conversation was something civil. "I imagine you and your steward want to look over my lands?"

"If you would," Agdar growled.

"And if I refuse?"

"Do you think you can afford to refuse right now?" said Agdar.

When dinner was finished, Kai went out to look for the wash room. Quite frankly, he heard of the rivalry between the two brothers, but never imagined that it was as tense as it was.

"A-are you king Agdar's steward?" said a quiet, timid voice as Kai was rinsing his hands in the basin and vigorously scrubbed them.

"I am," he replied, taking the cloth a servant handed him to dry off his hands. Isuelt looked around and then asked the servant to please leave and have the gardens emptied.

"Can we walk for a bit," she said. Kai nodded as she led him into the now deserted gardens. She knelt down in front of a rose and began to tend it with the tools the gardeners had left behind when they were dismissed moments ago.

Kai stood in awkward silence as she began to prune the rose bush.

"The queen carries Agdar's child," said Isuelt, finally.

"I never doubted it," said Kai putting his hands behind his back. "They are very much in love and Idun is a well bred, respectable woman."

"Despite Idun's well deserved reputation as a moral woman, there are reasons to doubt," she said, not looking up from her garden. "Njal hurt her badly. And shortly thereafter her pregnancy was announced. It caused a lot of people to wonder."

"Then... that child is..." said Kai.

"No it's not. Not Njal's. It couldn't be Njal's. Njal he... well he could never... actually... um 'perform', for lack of a better word."

"I... see," said Kai not wanting to get into Njal's impotency and certainly wasn't sure how it was even important.

"Besides, I think she was pregnant before he did that. She was happy and practically glowing for days. She told me there's something she wished to say, but dared not until she spoke with Agdar," said Isuelt. "Then Njal... hurt her. And she seemed to shut the world out."

"I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, but I must say, my lady, I fail to see how any of this is important," said Kai.

"Njal hurt the queen at his mother's orders because she was convinced Agdar wasn't... doing the job himself," said Isuelt cutting several blossoms.

"I'm not sure I understand my lady."

"Lady Bergetta did not force Agdar and Idun to marry because she thought Osbro could offer her anything in ways of a political alliance. She forced them to be married specifically for Idun to have a child within her household. It was the child she wanted, not Osbro's support, goods or services" said Isuelt as she began to pluck the petals of the flowers.

"A child? Why?"

"There's a bit of evidence, rumors mostly that Idun did not belong to the king of Osbro, but there was never proof of it."

"I heard his wife was a shrew. I suppose any number of males could be Queen Idun's actual father."

"Including one who showed up at the kingdom of Osbro with magical abilities. It's a condition known as cryokinesis. The person who has it, creates ice and snow, almost involuntarily with their mind. Most often it's mild and barely even noticeable but its effects can be wide spread too on rare occasions. It's known to mostly run in families after a bloodline is cursed, according to legends. This magician and the queen of Osbro were seen together several times, though no one thought anything came of it. Bergetta took a gamble, hoping it would pay off..."

"... producing a child with immense ability... Enough to destroy an entire kingdom like it did with Osbro," said Kai.

"Well, more than Osbro, but yes, that's the long and short of it. Now that Bergetta is gone it's worse than that. It would prove that Idun is not the king's," said Isuelt.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Kai asked.

"I wasn't," said Isuelt handing Kai some flower petals. "I was simply giving you something to freshen the water up a bit and happened to let my thoughts out a little."

A servant rushed into the garden, quickly bowed with an apology for interrupting the moment and then proceeded to speak, "The king of Arendelle wished me to fetch you. You are to leave at once."

"Well, things were more heated than I thought," said Kai.

"Not at all your grace. It's the queen. She's taken very ill and the king wishes to be with her at this time," said the servant.

"Thank you my lady. You've done a great service for Arendelle," said Kai. Isuelt nodded then jokingly added.

"Yes, fresh smelling hands are quite necessary," she said.

-o-

"You have to understand, my queen," said Kai hanging his head low and replied almost quietly, "I was under strict orders from your father to say nothing that would upset you."

"Upset me?" said Elsa.

"And trust me, my queen. There was much to that incident that would upset you," said Kai.

"I'm upset now," said Elsa as snow began to fall. She sighed and began to massage her temples, "Tell me one thing. Is what Weselton did for us something that would make me obliged to marry my sister off to Lord Sean?"

"I... don't believe so my lady...," said Kai half truthfully, not sure how to tell her that it was the basis of blackmail against her and Anna both. "...but a marriage proposal does give the offer a level of assurance as it shows they have no further hostile intentions."

Elsa marched down the hall, muttering all the way, "She had to do that... She had to fall in love with some ice harvester... she couldn't fall in love with a prince like any normal princess... And the one time she falls in love with a prince, she had to marry him the first day she met him..." Elsa then turned and with a raised voice said, "I want that scrappy sister of mine out here now."

"Yes, your majesty," said Kai relieved Elsa's temper shifted from him to Anna, but certainly he felt sorry for Anna. He went back in the dining room, ignoring Weselton's questions as to if everything was okay and informed Anna that Elsa needed to see her at once.

"Fine. It's not like I was hungry anyway," said Anna dropping her fork on the dinner table.

With both girls clearly upset, Kai couldn't even imagine how this would turn out well. He just hoped that Arendelle would remain intact this time around.

"Anna," Elsa called again, enough for the entire castle to hear.

"I'm coming, yeesh. Keep your ice on," said Anna. "You'd think Arendelle is sinking in the sea."

"It practically is," said Kai.

"And you come in here too, Kai," said Elsa.

"Right away your majesty," said Kai, realizing Elsa was probably mad at everyone right now. And of course, Anna didn't help matters by running in that room swinging, figuratively speaking.

"What do you want?" Anna asked, folding her arms and rubbing her shoulders to get warm.

"We need to talk," said Elsa.

"Yeah, I'd say. There's no way I'm marrying that Sean guy. And don't you dare try and argue with me. I mean what were you thinking telling him you'll 'consider it'?" said Anna.

"Unfortunately, the proposal alone is practically irresistible for the council given Arendelle's lack of a reasonable defense since your father shut the gates and the growing hostilities of the Southern Isles. Tack on the security marriage would offer, and her majesty will soon find herself with a very air tight trade and defense agreement that would quell growing concerns of a potential invasion," said Kai laying everything out for Anna.

"Whoa. That's, uh... Um... That really is a difficult situation you have going on here. You both have fun dealing with that," said Anna turning around to walk away.

"Get back here Anna," said Elsa putting her face in her hands.

"What do you want me to do? I already said I'm not marrying that guy. I'm in love with Kristoff. Remember him? The guy that practically saved my life," said Anna.

"I know Anna."

"You know, and you don't care."

"I do care. I want you to be happy. But that's..." said Elsa.

"Yeah. Well you're making it sound like it is your choice. In fact, everything in my life is your choice. Everything that's ever happened to me is because of you."

"I am not listening to this," said Elsa covering her ears and turning away.

"Oh yes you are. And while we're at it, we really need to lay down some ground rules. Seriously, Elsa what's with the snow and ice? Are you trying to freeze everyone to death?" said Anna. Anna must have immediately realized what she said as Elsa's hands dropped to her sides.

"Oh, Elsa I... I-I didn't mean it like that," said Anna trying to lay a gentle hand on her shoulder, but Elsa didn't acknowledge her. "Okay... I just... Look... I'm sorry, okay? I love you," said Anna. She put her hand on the door knob "I'll be in my room... you know, if you need me."

"Are you okay, your majesty," said Kai with a heavy sigh. Elsa buried her face in her hands, trembling and shaking her head. She wasn't okay. "Is it the 'visions' again your majesty?"

Elsa nodded. Kai doubted she heard a word Anna said.

Kai wasn't surprised at this. Elsa had these kinds of episodes since she was a child and he learned quickly to just be patient with her and offer her some water. They got progressively worse when she no longer allowed even her parents to touch her. Anna was unfortunately, not so lucky. After one such episode, Anna pushed Elsa to the point of a breakdown, which resulted in Elsa accidentally freezing her heart. Anna thankfully recovered, but was no means unscathed by the event. Where Elsa had daytime visions and flashbacks, Anna had nightmares, sometimes terrible enough to wake the entire castle. And vivid enough where she sometimes didn't even want out of her room.

Ironically though, it was Elsa who was most open about it. Anna just pretended she was okay, even though all the servants, and perhaps even the Royal Ice Master himself already knew she wasn't. And since Elsa had discussed these matters with Kai before, Anna probably didn't fully realize she wasn't entirely the cause of it. Poor Anna. The girl had such a tendency to blame herself for things that weren't even her fault. All because she wanted Elsa to like her.

"What am I suppose to do?" said Elsa.

"It is not for me to tell her majesty what to do."

"What would my father have done?"

"That I am not sure either. But what I do know about your father is that he did in fact value his family above all other things. Including his kingdom at times."

-o-

Agdar had been by his wife's side for three days now, holding her hand, and barely allowing any sleep himself. When he first arrived, Gerda informed him of what the doctor said; that his wife needed undisturbed rest, and so was sedated for the time being.

"Idun, can you hear me? I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I didn't know. I was so blinded by everything that was happening that I didn't notice you suffering," said Agdar. "Please forgive me."

"Your majesty," said Gerda.

"What?" said Agdar, coming out a little harsher than intended, but who could blame him?

"There's more that needs to be said," said Gerda. Agdar's hands tightened to fists as he squeezed his eyes closed. He certainly couldn't stand more bad news at the moment. "T-there were complications too."

"What complications?"

"She was bleeding, and... Well the doctor believes the baby is in distress as well," said Gerda. She then hesitated and quickly told everything her mistress asked her not to. "Sh-she was also very cold."

"Cold?"

"Yes."

Kai bit his lip, realizing what Isuelt had told him earlier about the magician and his ice magic. He pondered if he should say anything, but quite frankly, he didn't know what to make of it either. He took his wife by the wrist when Agdar dismissed the two of them and pulled her aside.

"There's something dangerous going on here," he said with a sense of urgency.

"I beg your pardon," said Gerda pulling her arm away. Kai sighed and explained everything that the baroness Isuelt told him. Gerda listened carefully, questions forming in her mind, but then answering them all at the same time. How did Bergetta know about Idun? Possibly the same way Isuelt did, and of course, the queen of Osbro did have many rumors swarming around her, particularly her involvement with some kind of magic man. But to think those rumors actually could have some kind of merit was unthinkable.

"What does this mean?" said Gerda.

"It means that if that child is born with any powers whatsoever, it would prove that Idun is illegitimate. The product of an unlawful affair and potentially put King Agdar in a worse position than he already is," said Kai. Why should Gerda care? She knew why her husband cared. Agdar was his friend after all. Maybe he wasn't the best friend, but that was Kai. An unwavering loyalty was so entwined in his personality, it was practically his life blood. It kept him with her, even though any other man of his intelligence and position would have abandoned her when he discovered she couldn't have children.

"Please, my dear. Say nothing to anyone," said Kai putting both his hands on her shoulders.

"If it pleases you," muttered Gerda. Kai lifted an eyebrow.

"I see royal mannerisms are rubbing off on you," he chuckled. It was mostly because she spent a lot of time with the queen, more than she had any of her other mistresses. Idun would remain in the chamber while Gerda cleaned, and they would joke, gossip and Gerda would offer the queen marital advise from time to time.

For the first time in her life, the Gerda felt as though she had a mistress that treated her like a human being. Idun didn't make fun of her, call her names, comment on her physical appearance, or the shameful facts of her infertility. At the very least, Idun was a good woman, and certainly deserved far more than to be turned away like some piece of garbage.

They were interrupted by Agdar coming from the queen's chambers, looking as though he could barely stand as he supported himself on the door frame.

"I need to talk to the doctor. I need to know what's wrong with her," he said. Gerda bit her lip. The doctor couldn't tell Agdar anymore than what was already said. He never seen a disease like this one, and be darned if he knew a cure. Gerda jabbed Kai in the stomach, telling him he needed to say something.

"Your majesty, I wouldn't advise a doctor any further unless you have something you can hold against him should he not keep a secret, and I would strongly advise a midwife with the same arrangements," said Kai clearing his throat.

"I beg your pardon."

"Your wife's illness could very well be her undoing your majesty," said Kai. Kai told him, but Agdar's expression showed he didn't believe a word of it. Instead he got angry.

"I don't believe that. Not one bit. Floki was cursed with his magic, not born with it," said Agdar.

"Your majesty, why do you think your stepmother was so interested in Idun? As you said, Osbro has nothing to offer Arendelle, and had long since distanced themselves from achieving their ambitions with magic," said Kai.

"No," said Agdar. "My child is not a monster."

"Monster? No, your majesty. We're not implying the child is a monster," said Gerda.

"I beg your pardon, your majesty, but I was under the impression that the issue here is your wife's parentage, not the child necessarily displaying magical talents," said Kai, a little confused. He looked to his wife, and then said, "Perhaps his majesty would benefit telling me everything."

"I would rather see to my wife at this time," said Agdar, quietly.

Gerda looked at Kai as if to ask "now what"? Kai sighed, "Well, the king called me here, I suspect more to save his marriage than his position. And so I shall do my best in that regard."

"What do you expect to do here, Kai?" Gerda asked.

"I think it is time I shall write a letter to lady Isuelt and discover for myself what actually transpired in the kingdom of Osbro," said Kai.


	6. Chapter 6

**Fact of the Day: What's in a name? Apparently a lot actually, despite what Shakespeare says. At least when it comes to science. As is the case with naegele's giant jaguar or commonly known as the American Lion... This extinct beast is up for debate as far as how it should be classified, but the shape of the skull points it more towards the jaguar family. This apparently happens a lot when it comes to classification of species. Debates can rage as to whether or not small differences should qualify a specific type of organism to be classified as one species or the other... then you look at dogs...  
**

* * *

"Princess, may I ask what are you doing?" Kai asked.

"I'm hiding out here until that creepy Weasel-_ton_ group leaves," said Anna. "Elsa can't make me get married if she can't find me."

"I see that despite the fact there are cupboards and pantries larger and more fitting for a princess looking to hide from an arranged marriage, you conveniently chose the one where the chocolate is stored," said Kai. "Which, I should warn you, is the first place your sister goes when she finds herself here."

"Fine," said Anna crawling out. "I just wanted chocolate. Sheesh."

"Given the circumstances, your majesty, I can hardly blame you," said Kai.

"You won't tell Gerda?"

"In all the years we've been married there hasn't been one secret between us," said Kai. Anna gave a heavy frown. "But I will assure you it's not necessarily because I said anything."

"Thanks. Doesn't exactly make me feel better," said Anna. She sighed. "Tell me honestly Kai, why the heck would Elsa do that to me?"

"Do what?"

"Arrange me to marry that... that..."

"I believe his name is Sean..."

"Whatever his name is... Look it doesn't matter. Just that it's been six months and I thought everything was going to change, you know, after she thawed everything," said Anna.

"Perhaps her majesty can't tell how much was changed," said Kai.

Anna cocked her head, "So what does that mean?"

"What that means, your majesty, is that when you live in the moment, often you can't see how much the things around you changed because you yourself are still standing in the same spot," said Kai. He gave her a moment to think about it. "Consider, your majesty, why did you originally think your sister shut you out?"

"I dunno. I always thought maybe... you know... I did something that she was really mad at me for... I couldn't think of what it was, so maybe she was just a jerk, but you know, I still felt bad. Then when I found out I didn't do anything, that she had these crazy ice powers and all that, I guess I was happy. Then I just felt I needed to help her," said Anna.

"I think what's happening is that you've stuck yourself in your past feelings. You've told yourself for so long she despises you, that you can't stop telling yourself that despite anything the queen does," said Kai.

"Yeah, I guess that's a hard habit to break. I mean, she has done a lot for me. I'm so happy I have a sister again. I missed her so much and now that we can talk again, I just am so afraid that I might say something... or do something to make her shut the door again. Like she has before," said Anna.

"Well, the queen is harder on herself than anyone else. Perhaps you need to take comfort in the fact that the reason your sister shut her out, so to speak, has nothing to do with anything you did. And just remember, princess," said Kai, emphasizing his next point by holding up one finger, "she only said she'd _consider_ their proposal. She has made no promises to them."

Anna gave a slight smile, but quickly her expression turned serious. "Tell me honestly Kai. Would it really be that bad if I didn't marry this guy? I mean, seriously, I need to know," said Anna.

Kai frowned. "Yes. It's very serious, your majesty. Arendelle is weak. It was weak when your father took the throne. Your father was a good king, princess. He strengthened Arendelle by securing good trade partnerships with neighboring kingdoms which increased the riches considerably. But he could never master balancing his rule with the functions of being a father. In shutting the gates he left certain things neglected, and failed to enforce many of the tariffs which protected Arendelle's goods. And in shutting the gates, being reluctant to see anyone, it made it difficult for Arendelle to fill positions in the military and such," said Kai.

"So if we got attacked..."

"Arendelle will not likely be able to defend itself. Your sister recognized this problem early on and has tried what she could, but an army and the means to supply them will still take years to build. The council refuses to accept any increase of taxes to support it. Our only hope would be to hire mercenaries and the queen is very reluctant to bring outsiders she cannot control here. And who is to blame her?" said Kai.

"Wow... So um... Okay. Mind telling me how my father let things get this bad?"

-o-

The day the princess was born, should have been a time for rejoicing. The queen's labor began around midnight and lasted until one in the afternoon when the baby was born. There were complications early on, and Idun struggled with the delivery. When the baby finally took her first breaths, everyone sighed in relief at the little princess's cries and the queen held onto life. Everything seemed well as Idun held her baby, and they bonded fine, but an hour or two later, the queen developed a fever and then completely lost consciousness.

This devastated Agdar, especially when the doctor gave a grim prognosis and suggested he have a drink or something. He took to his private study, not wanting at all to see anyone other than his bottle of scotch. He refused to even look at his daughter, much less come to her nursery when she cried, leaving the task to the servants. The midwife got the girl quieted and situated in a room prior prepared for her.

Several hours after the birth Gerda carefully opened the door as to not disturb the sleeping infant. She stepped inside and instantly felt the chilly air. There was no way this room could get that cold being in the most interior parts of the castle. Gerda herself looked to the details along with the midwife to ensure it would be comfortable for the child. She glanced over to see the fire going, probably lite by one of the other servants, and sufficient enough to warm the place. Odd yes, but Gerda decided she needed to move the baby elsewhere. When Gerda looked down on the girl, she felt a smile creep over her face looking at how innocent she was. She reached down and touched the girl's skin.

"Oh no," said Gerda, as panic rushed through her mind in feeling how cold and still the baby was. But the child woke and began to cry, causing Gerda to release a breath of a relief. Then the frost began to form on the mattress of the bassinet, causing Gerda to jump back in astonishment. Even with everyone telling her; Idun, Kai and Isuelt, she wasn't sure. It was still too far fetched, too... unnatural to ever be true. She hesitated as to what to do.

"There, there," said Gerda picking the baby up with trembling hands and patting her on the back until she relaxed against Gerda's shoulder. Instantly the room began to warm, the frost thawed and all seemed as it should. "You don't do well with being so lonesome, do you?"

Even though Gerda felt relieved at knowing the princess was still alive, she couldn't help but feel a bit concerned about the matter. Over and over her mind rushed with the warning Kai gave and how Lady Isuelt confirmed what Idun feared most.

"He still won't come see her?" Gerda asked when she finally stepped out in the hall still rocking the baby and saw her husband standing there. Kai shook his head. "That man... You need to talk to him."

"And say what? He's the king."

"That doesn't give him a right to act like this. You know this isn't right. He wanted this child. He loves this child. And he should still love her despite everything," said Gerda.

"You're right," said Kai with a heavy sigh. "Come with me, and do try to keep your temper in check, would you?"

Agdar was still sitting in that same chair, looking out the window and for a moment Gerda couldn't help but feel sorry for him. The jacket of his uniform was draped over the back of his chair, leaving him in just the rolled up sleeves of his white shirt, trousers and suspenders. Agdar wasn't drunk for sure. Barely an eighth of the bottle was empty from the single glass he poured and rested in his hands, completely untouched. The king had been crying too, judging by his bloodshot eyes. And probably the worse agony of all was the doctor only permitting him to stay with Idun for a short period of time. "She needs her rest," he said.

"Your majesty," said Kai.

"Any news about my wife?"

"I'm afraid not. There is an urgent matter at hand concerning your daughter," said Kai.

"Is she...? Please no... Lord, no, no... Not her too...!" said Agdar, voice racing in panic.

"No, your majesty. The child is well, I assure you," said Kai pushing Agdar's shoulders so he'd sit again. Agdar rubbed his eyes, knowing where this was going.

"Just make sure she's taken care of. I'll see to her when I can think straight," said Agdar.

"Come now. You haven't even touched that glass," said Kai, taking the scotch from Agdar's hands and setting it on the table.

"Your majesty," said Gerda chiming in. "We understand you're hurt right now, but your child needs a little more than just being fed and kept warm."

Kai nodded, "You hired me because you can trust I would be honest when it matters. And nothing matters more than this, I am certain. If something were to happen to your wife, that little girl will be quite literally the only one left in your life. And right now, you're the only one she has in hers. She needs you, your majesty"

Agdar spent a good moment thinking it over. Kai was right, as always. He was a just a lad when he fell in love with Idun. Surviving and protecting her from day to day, which cemented their relationship. When she told him she was pregnant, they were like two children, scarcely aware of the reality of it all. The thought of becoming parents sounded so... grown up. He didn't know what it was to be a father. He was excited, yes. But he thought nothing of what such a title entailed.

But he was a man now. Everyone expected him to be, and rightfully so.

"Where is she?" said Agdar.

When Gerda brought his daughter over, Agdar, like any new father, was anxious. He nervously took the girl in his arms and took a moment to study her as she whimpered a bit and then started wailing. There wasn't any emotion to his face, nor affection in his touch as he watched her cry, completely uncertain what to think. Not until she wiggled herself to snuggled up against him quieting down, showing her complete trust in him. Then it was his turn to cry. A small smile crept on his face, which gave way to full blown tears he couldn't stop despite his best effort as he wrapped his arms protectively around his baby. They were good tears though.

"Her name is Elsa, your majesty," said Gerda.

"Elsa?"

"Yes. Your wife named her before she fell ill," said Gerda.

"Elsa. My little Elsa," he sobbed, kissing her on the head, showing the man had fallen completely in love despite his heavily burdened mind.

"We should leave them," said Gerda gently laying her hand on Kai's shoulder.

At least there was one good thing. Everything would be okay between the father and his child, and for now, with the queen's recovery uncertain, that was all they could hope for.

"I wish I could say that everything will be okay now," said Kai softly closing the door behind them. "When you went to check on the princess, did everything seem normal?"

Gerda shook her head. That baby was unnaturally cold, and so was the room, despite the fact a fire was lite. Most children that age would succumb to that kind of temperature, but yet the princess seemed healthy, oddly unaffected. And then the bit of frost, which even now, Gerda scarcely believed she actually saw.

She brought Kai to the nursery which he thoroughly investigated, but found no trace of it. Yet he did not doubt Gerda, knowing his wife was never one to make up wild stories.

"It's best we put it out of our minds. We've warned the king as best we could, and as Isuelt has said, in most cases this condition is mild and scarcely noticeable," said Kai.

"That was a fair bit noticeable," said Gerda as they were approached by one of the other servants.

"Your grace, there is a visitor for you. She will not state her name, but did inform me it was of an urgent matter and demanded to see you privately. She seemed... a woman of substance, your grace," said the servant.

The woman waited in the library, nervously pacing around, holding her riding gloves in her hand, and wearing a black velvet cloak despite the fact it was summer. Kai recognized her immediately, despite the fact no one else seemed to.

"I take it by the chill in this castle's air that not only the princess has been born but she's just as I said she would be," said Isuelt.

"So it appears," said Kai offering the baroness a seat.

"I received your letter, and have taken it as an invitation to come here," said Isuelt holding up the envelope.

"I was hoping you would write me back, not grace me with an unexpected visit. Especially with the queen being severely ill and uncertain of her recovery," said Kai.

"I'm lucky your letter wasn't discovered actually. My husband seems to check everything that comes my way."

"But you'd risk coming here?"

"I think you misunderstand, steward. I am simply here to apologize for my husband's poor hospitality during the king's visit and assure the royal family of the barony's full cooperation. In light of these circumstances I wish to congratulate the royal family on the birth of their first child and to give proper company to the queen. Unfortunately I have heard she is ill as of late, and still not recovered, so it seems my companionship is not needed," said Isuelt.

"I see... And does the baroness intend to let her thoughts out a bit while she's here?" said Kai.

"You wish to know about Osbro and what passed there."

"If you would, but I would like also to know whether or not I could trust your word. You were right about the princess, true, but it leaves me curious as to how you know so much."

"I-I'm... Not a maid, actually... despite the fact my husband... I..." she began, wringing her gloves tightly together.

"It's alright. I fully understand that your current predicament is a difficult one," said Kai.

"I'm afraid I don't know much about Osbro and what happened while Floki was there, but I will say what I can," said Isuelt. Kai studied her carefully as she spoke, noticing the bruises on the arms of the timid little baroness. No wonder she cowarded before her husband's temper. It was painful to see her like that, but empowering to see her willing to defy her husband, probably gambling all on the hope Agdar would gain the needed support to cement his reign and grant her a favor.

"If you would," said Kai.

"Osbro abandoned their ambitions for a military advantage using magic when an 'accident' unleashed winter within their lands. Unfortunately, it did not affect Osbro alone, but also neighboring lands as well. That is how it was all discovered. In fact, Weaselton was more affected by the accident than even Osbro itself," said Isuelt.

"You would forgive me, why I asked such a personal question earlier about where you're getting your information, but I worked for a major university in Norway before I came here. I've mingled with princes and he sons of generals from all over the world. I've heard of Osbro's ambitions using magic, but details are surprisingly lacking. Wouldn't the emperor have this matter investigated especially if the motive involved insurrection?"

"The emperor was furious of course. Luckily for Osbro, the empire was dealing with troublesome colonies in Africa, so did not have time to investigate a matter that seemed to solve itself. So there's no official report. There was no real proof of Osbro's motives of conquest so the Emperor essentially said that the empire has no issue with magic and so long as Osbro made amends, they wouldn't bother with it. The well known ambitions of Osbro to unleash war is officially nothing more than a rumor. A well documented and reliable rumor, but a rumor none the less.

"Unfortunately, this left Osbro at the mercy of these barons and duchies, to which they could name their price. These barons and duchies found a great advantage to the incident and all became exceedingly powerful from the tributes paid by Osbro in the sum of nearly a third of Osbro's entire income."

"No wonder their money is so inflated," said Kai.

"While Arendelle has nothing to do with Osbro or the incident, it would be very, very unwise of the king to allow his daughter's abilities to be known to his allies," said Isuelt.

"Hence the reason, she's a monster," Kai muttered to himself.

"I beg your pardon?" said Isuelt.

"The king, called her a monster," said Kai.

"His mother was the daughter of one of Weselton's stewards, so it's no surprise he'd be instilled with that prejudice," said Isuelt.

"It seems the prejudice left him. He has his daughter now is quite taken by her," said Kai. A smile came across Isuelt's face.

"I have one thing to ask you," said Isuelt quietly.

"Yes?"

"I came here at great risk to myself... It would be..." said Isuelt, nervously squeezing her gloves which she hadn't stopped playing with since she seated herself. "... I would like that you please petition the king in my behalf."

"For what?"

"I want him to please dissolve Njal's title," said Isuelt.

"I'm afraid that would be quite impossible," said Kai.

"I don't understand. The king hates his brother. I see it in his eyes. He surely would be open to removing the position from Njal," said Isuelt.

"Your father signed the will..."

"My father lost his mind due to old age before he signed anything. Had he been of a sound mind, he would never have agreed to it," said Isuelt. "Please you must believe me."

"I do, I promise. But King Agdar's popularity and trust among his council and the people is small. He cannot afford to take titles from anyone. It would for sure be cause for a complete vote of no confidence in the council," said Kai.

"Very well," she said with a heavy sigh. "Then I cannot be of further assistance to the royal family. Good-bye steward."

-o-

"Helga? Are you here?" said Gerda knocking on the door to the bunkhouse where the maids slept if they had no accommodations in the city. No answer. With a heavy sigh, Gerda pulled out her keys. She was normally courteous with respect to the other servant's privacy but this time it had gone too far. "You're very late for your shift."

Gerda rearranged several of the schedules in order for Helga to be in the laundry room and not anywhere near the guests from Weselton. When she didn't show, that particular department was suddenly short handed. Meaning that Gerda had to pull staff members from other areas of the castle in order to make up for it. This left a very grumpy group of guests while Gerda was under strict orders from the queen not to do anything to offend them, at least until the queen could figure what to do with them.

When she finally opened the door (after trying the third key) Gerda found it empty. She was only suppose to be gone for a day, Gerda was quite sure. And while she would be nothing but understanding to someone, she certainly wished Helga said something if she had no intention of returning. When she turned she bumped into someone standing directly behind her.

"I apologize," said the man. "I was looking for a girl who resides here..."

Gerda squinted her eyes, not able to get a good look at his face, but the hall was still dark in the morning hours. Plus, there were not that many windows.

"If you're from Weselton, I believe the queen has made it crystal clear that you're not to leave your quarters," said Gerda.

"I know... I-I just have to talk to..."

"No, I'm telling you to leave or I have full authority to call the guards," said Gerda. She almost didn't feel the fist that sent her sprawling to the ground. Or the blows that came after, knocking her senseless. She could barely breath after several kicks to the side by some heavy, steel pointed boots, or the heel that stomped down on her hand, breaking three fingers.

The man said something, but it was blurred compared to the ringing in her ears.

* * *

**So this story puts Idun's labor starting at 12am and going until 1pm, which is 13 hours, (which is actually normal for a woman, particularly a first child.) This also makes Elsa's birth the 13th hour of the day, keeping up with Frozen's theme of the number 13. I personally got the impression in the movie that Elsa is a bit of a daddy's girl, and wanted to kind of show how she and her father built their relationship. (And please don't be too hard on Agdar. He's a pretty young guy who got married early and fathered a child before he was ready. The poor guy's wife is dying and his kingdom is turning against him. He just doesn't feel he can provide the emotional support his daughter needs right now.) One thing I didn't want to turn this into was a question of who Elsa's father is. It's Agdar. There shouldn't be any question of it, at least from the reader's perspective.  
**

**I've really enjoyed writing this one. As I said before, it follows more my natural writing style and it is an experiment with flashbacks. Please tell me what you think. What you like or don't like.  
**


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